Unleashing the power of “breakthrough thinking”

“I’m an engineer and scientist by training”, says Dave Hall, founder of the Ideas Centre. “On paper, I shouldn’t be a creative person.”

As a Manufacturing Director, Dave took part in some management training. “I tripped over a creativity module”, he says, “and I decided to give it a go as a bit of light relief.”

It was a course he describes as “life-changing”: it introduced him to all sorts of weird and wonderful techniques that he took back and embedded within his organisation. 

“Over a period of time, these techniques genuinely transformed the organisation”, he says. “So I took them with me to every subsequent role.”

These roles included a stint as Chief Executive of a forensic science company. “It isn’t the obvious place for creativity”, Dave says. “It had been a loss-making public sector organisation for 38 years. However, by applying these techniques we turned it into an embarrassingly “profitable” organisation within four years.”

Subsequently, Dave set up the Ideas Centre, distilling everything he had learned about creativity as a driver for innovation. He helps businesses to innovate by, he says, messing with their heads. “If these techniques don’t mess with your head, you’ll end up with more of the same old thinking”, he explains. “By definition, innovation techniques have to challenge the way you think, helping you to break free of convention and tradition.”

If you’re keen to unleash the power of “breakthrough thinking” in your organisation, join Dave for his Vistage session on Wednesday, September 11th. Read on for a taste of what to expect…

Developing a culture of creativity

Dave believes that you only need a handful of people within an organisation who understand the creative process. These people can offer a service to those who have a problem that they are trying to resolve through innovation. 

“Ideally over time, though, you want to virally spread that creativity throughout the organisation, because the dream is that everyone is naturally spontaneously creative”, says Dave.  

He achieved this at the forensic science company he headed up. “Creativity was part of the interview process”, he recalls. “We actually had scientists apply purely because they were so entertained by the idea of mixing creativity with science, and wanted to see it for themselves.”

Why you should attend Dave’s event

Dave’s event is designed for anyone who wants to escape from being trapped in the same old ways of thinking. 

“Doing things differently needs to have the blessing of the leadership team”, says Dave. “The prize for embracing creativity is step function change on demand – and which leader wouldn’t want that? 

The challenge, Dave says, is encouraging leadership teams to own and embed creativity, distilling it throughout the organisation. On September 11th, those who attend his webinar will learn to do just that. 

Book your place at Dave’s event here. 

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